What is the best intentionally crappy B-level movie of all time?

[Halie Satanus]

Aye.

Did anyone mention 'The Evil Dead.'

Not sure if it was 'intentionally crappy' or Raimi just embraced his budget of 350k(est), squeezed every ounce of crazy from it and created, maybe, the greatest cult classic of all.

[Roma_Victrix]

Yes, it's mentioned on the previous page. At this point we've mentioned so many films that we should probably reflect on them before adding a bunch of new titles, which is entirely feasible since we didn't even scratch all the zombie flicks made by George A. Romero. Funny that you mention Evil Dead, because I considered Evil Dead II or Army of Darkness to be the pinnacle of the B-Level film. I have essentially already cast my vote in that direction and made up my mind, but I'd like to hear what others have to say about what they think represents the best. Good to know that you have a solid opinion about Evil Dead being the ultimate B-Level film.

[Halie Satanus]

Evil Dead II is a remake of Evil Dead. The time line of the trilogy is interesting, Army of Darkness is set before Evil Dead and Evil Dead 2 is a re-quel, something to do with Raimi not owning the rights to the first film. All great movies of the VHS age.

Just one more addition. ?

Not one that many would include in a list of B-Movies, but it fits the criteria in a lot of ways. 'A Clockwork Orange.' (1971) Budget $1.3m. Over the top (hammy) performances, exploitative. Kubrik (one of the all time great directors) made an intentionally crappy movie (His previous outing being 2001 A Space Odyssey) to hide a deep expose of where the writer (Anthony Burgess) saw society going, not into the shiny futuristic utopia, or into space, but a world where the masses were welfare dependent automated slaves of the upper classes. Even today, tame as it is, ACO still scares the bejeezus out of the establishment. Even the opening shot, where nothing happens, is age restricted.



Film fans can watch ACO and see the sheer brilliance, while the casual movie goer would see probably see a cheap pile of B-Movie crap.

Have you considered 'Mad Max' too..

[Cyclops]

We watched a lot of the splatter movies (Toxic Avenger, Street Trash etc) but they were all forgettable rather than horrific.

I still argue most of Arnie's films are B movies despite their budgets. I saw Commando again on late night TV recently, the Dillon character is so cringeworthy its unbelievable. Even after watching it so many times (as a 20 year old it was a staple Friday night movie before heading out and we could recite most of the dialogue to Commando and Predator) Vernon Wells' performance gets worse every time. Well past his buff "Wez" Mad Max body, he shuffles around waiting patiently to deliver his lines, and puts so much sincerity into them it hurts "Welcome back, John, so glad you could make it" "put the knife away and shut your mouth" "if matrix was here, he'd laugh too" argh!

The one great moment is his truly Australian bit of banter "how's the arm John?"

[Roma_Victrix]

Yeah, we talked about Mad Max already, which is a worthy candidate, but then again so is A Clockwork Orange! Good choice! It's one of those movies that stir a lot of social commentary and is rather timeless given how disturbing it is no matter what the generation. Given the budget, I'll allow its inclusion and consideration.

As for the earliest Arnold movies, I have to agree, they are awfully silly but enjoyable. Commando in particular stretches the boundaries of the believable when Arnold barely gets a scratch after killing like a million guys in a row and single-handedly destroying an entire enemy compound led by the villain Dillon. The one-liner dialogue is unforgettable despite the cringe in retrospect, similar to his film Raw Deal. LOL. Barring Terminator, Predator is certainly one of his first serious films, followed by Red Heat, certainly different films from the Conan the Barbarian saga. Running Man had an interesting premise but was ultimate very silly in its execution, while serving as a dystopian precursor to Total Recall. The film Twins was also an essential early comedy for Arnold showing off his comedic chops before he played similar humorous roles in Kindergarten Cop, Last Action Hero, and True Lies. Jingle All the Way was terrible, but it followed the same vein. End of Days from 1999 was perhaps his last really good film.

[John Doe]

Life of Brian?
And other M Python movies

[Cyclops]

I think Clockwork Orange is an art film, the difference being...um...not sure. The arrogance of the director?

Monty Python? Bold call and you are onto something. MP were deliberately slipshod, somewhat arty and those films were deliberately crappy. Jabberwocky is my favourite. "Griselda, my daughter"

[Morticia Iunia Bruti]

"Griselda, my daughter"

eating the rotten potatoe.

[Halie Satanus]

I think Clockwork Orange is an art film, the difference being...um...not sure. The arrogance of the director?

I'd agree, but then where would movies like Erasurehead, Tetsuo (BodyHammer), or The Holy Mountain, fit.

[Cyclops]

Maybe I need to qualify that, by saying the arrogance of a very competent director. Holy Mountain is utter trash. E grade.

Eraserhead is interestingly made, and the dream effect is maintained through pretty decent film making. Definitely an art film, gun director to my mind.